Monthly Archives: May 2015

Erik Nording Rustic Pipe

by Woodsbum

For many years I was a cigar smoker. Although I love the taste, feel, and aroma of a good cigar the price really put a damper on the various types and amount that I could afford. Even with the lowered price of bundles or seconds it was way too expensive of a vice for me to really partake that often. That was when a friend of mine gave me an old Savinelli pipe that he no longer used. From then on I found that the price of pipe tobaccos gave me the variety that I craved with the lowered costs that I required.

As years went by and more and more pipes found their way into my collection, I stumbled across a very nice looking Erik Nording. Although I am anything but a pipe snob, I was actually quite proud to have this beautiful piece in my collection. Between the draw, the way the heat maintains an even tobacco burn, and the lack of moisture that builds up this has become my favorite pipe by far.

Erik Nording Rustic finish

As you can see, the stem comes apart quite easily for storage and transport. This makes it the perfect pipe for taking with you on outings. The tobacco shop where I bought this actually has extra stems for sale in case you break one. This also is a nice feature of this pipe.

Erik Nording Rustic pipe

Over the years I have become quite fond of the up swept pipe shape. It cuts down on the amount of “juice” that travels up the stem when you get fresh tobacco. I am sure that there are all sorts of techniques to keep this phenomenon from taking place, but I sure have not been able to keep it from happening with any regularity. This is why I only make churchwarden style pipes for myself and am really fussy about the pipes I purchase. If I could find a pipe that had a “juice” bypass valve, I would be all over it.

Nording pipe

The other thing I have discovered is that I like pipes that are big and bulky. I am not too fond of the smaller, dainty models. Maybe it is because I have bear paws for hands, but the actual smoke and draw just seem to be that much more pleasant with a larger pipe.

Again, I am not a pipe expert and am self taught via trial and error. There are many things that I am sure that I am doing wrong, but I don’t care. Smoking a pipe isn’t a status thing for me nor is it something to make me “look cool.” It would take much more than a pipe to make me even remotely close to “cool.” I enjoy the different flavors, aromas, tastes, and relaxation that smoking a pipe provides.

If you are debating on moving over to a pipe my main recommendations for you are as follows:

Spend some money on a good pipe. A $40 pipe will not give you the experience that a $200 pipe will. I don’t know the physics of it all, but I know from personal experience that any cheap pipes that I have purchased have either been intentionally “lost” or given away. The most expensive pipes give a much more pleasant smoking experience.
Making your own pipe is a close second to an expensive pipe purchase. Just make sure you make the stem long enough to cool the smoke properly. Otherwise you get a burned taste from the smoke and the flavors of the tobacco are lost.
Get good tobacco. DON’T BUY PREPACKAGED TOBACCO. Go to a cigar shop and look at the glass containers for your tobacco. It is 200x better tasting and burning.
Get a good pipe lighter. The cheap Bic lighters seem to be only capable of successfully burning my fingers and can barely light the bowl. Some can make it work, but I can’t. I doubt new pipe smokers can either.
Don’t think of it as a cigarette. It is more like a cigar. Don’t inhale the smoke. Play with it and taste it. This also adds to the relaxation and enjoyment of the pipe smoking experience.

I hope this helps you out if you decide to try pipe smoking or have been thinking about getting a Nording pipe. Both are highly recommended by me.

Transmission Replacement for Dodge Ram 1500

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by Woodsbum

This post is a bit of a departure from my norm. Over the weekend I had to replace the transmission in my Dodge Ram 1500 4×4. Unfortunately, I found that there are very few videos online that are specific to the type of transmission I have or year of truck I have. To put it mildly, I was hunting and pecking a lot. To help anyone else that has to do this swap, I decided to add a few tidbits of knowledge that I gained while doing this job.

Make sure to take out the 4 engine mount bolts on the driver’s side. I am referring to the ones that actually bolt to the block. There is a bracket that the frame engine mounts bolt to that has to be loose enough to pry out of the way for the transmission to make it past. This bracket also attaches to the front of the transmission (same side) by 2 bolts.
Remove the transfer case. You will be lacking about 3 inches of room to be able to pull the transmission and transfer case as a single unit. To get to the bottom bolts of the transfer case, you do have to pull the cross member and transmission mounting brackets.
Transmission jacks are very nice and almost required. Don’t assume that you can strong arm it or just use a couple of floor jacks. The problem is that you have to turn the transmission a little and then twist it back into position to miss the engine mount bracket.
There is an inspection plate right behind the oil pan. It is held on by 4 bolts and the transmission actually bolts onto this pieces as well. Make sure to take it off to bolt your torque converter onto the flywheel.
Don’t listen to any of the old Chevy guys that say that you should just put the torque converter onto the transmission and slide it all in as a unit. You will end up dropping the torque converter several times and probably get hurt. Even though it is hard no matter what way you do it, just bolt on the torque converter and then slide the transmission shaft into the torque converter from there.
There is a metal plate that goes around the whole bell housing that likes to slip while trying to place the transmission. Don’t let it slip down a hole on the driver’s side. It will try to and loves to make your life miserable. Don’t let it.
The wires and loom at the back of the engine will also get pinched if you are not careful. Just move them out of the way because any use of zip ties WILL cause you to blood your knuckles up while trying to get the wires loose after the transmission is installed. Don’t ask…..

I should have taken some pictures or video of the whole process, but I was more interested in getting the transmission installed. These tips I gave you above will really help you out while doing the swap, however. All other aspects of the swap are fairly straight forward.

Swedish Torch

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by Woodsbum

In my normal Internet wanderings, I ran across a new technique that I have never seen before. It was called a Swedish Torch by the person that made the video. I can see how this would work VERY well in highly wet parts of the world. Next time I get out in the woods when it is raining I plan on trying this out. If anyone else has either used this technique please leave a comment.

Custom Pistol Grips

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by Woodsbum

Finding a nice set of pistol grips that fit my personality was not an easy task. That is when I started looking for actual custom pistol grips that I could send in my design to have scrimshawed on. Several companies that I spoke with would only do their designs or promised “custom” work that had to be sent off to another company to complete.

Finally I found one company that would actually do what I wanted without trying to make me pick one of their stock designs. Boone Trading Company actually specializes in ivory, bone, simulated ivory, scrimshaw, and various other animal products. When I contacted them back in the middle of February I picked out some simulated ivory grips for my Smith and Wesson Model 10-1 and sent them some graphics to have scrimshawed. They originally promised me a final product in about 3 weeks. This would get me my grips by the beginning of March. The grips never came so i contacted them again and they told me that they had gotten behind, but the were going to expedite my order. This was in the middle of March. My order arrived at my door on May 1st. It ended up being around 11 weeks from order to delivery.

At first I was kind of irritated at the prolonged and stretched out fulfillment of my order. Although I do a lot of business with custom makers, I do expect that my orders will be completed within a few weeks of their initial time estimates. Waiting an additional month is not uncommon, albeit a bit annoying. This is just the nature of the business when ordering custom work. An additional 8 weeks is a bit excessive however.

Even though it took a long time, I am really happy with the final product. The quality of the grips and the actual scrimshaw work is quite good. I am a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to custom work and expect to receive every dollar’s worth when I pay for things. For example, I have one hand forged custom knife that I paid over $500 for and then sank another $200 in a sheath. The money I paid was definitely worth the products I received. I feel the same about these grips. They were almost as much as I paid for the actual pistol itself, but they really make the firearm mine.

Here are some shots of the new grips on the pistol. The artwork you see here was a piece that I had an artist do for me several years ago. This will eventually be (and fairly soon) my newest tattoo across my back. I am quite partial to skull and crossbones type art, which you can see in both these pieces of scrimshaw.

Custom scrimshaw on pistol grips

The holster you see is an old military M3 chest rig. I did add an additional pieces of leather to lengthen the strap. I wanted it to ride a bit lower on my side as more of a Baldric type rig. Here is a good picture of the other side of the pistol.

AOD logo on my pistol grips

Both of the pieces of artwork came out quite nicely and look really impressive against the dark blue color of the pistol frame. I was impressed with the quality of the scrimshaw work. I do not think that it will discolor or chip very easily.

Close up of my AOD logo

Here is a close up of the other side. As you can see, they did do a very good job on them.

Close up of the other side

As with any custom work, you need to keep in mind that the one doing the work is usually an artist. Their freedom to work at their own pace is directly representative of how nice of a final product you will receive. Don’t give up on a company or a maker just because they did not meet you proposed deadlines. Let them do their job and they will get you what you want eventually. Also, remember that you will get what you pay for. Custom work doesn’t come cheap.

In evaluating this company and the work that they produced for me, I would definitely buy from them again. I have already started thinking about some other projects, actually.

Making an Insulation Bed

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by Woodsbum

One of the biggest mistakes that people make when trying to make in improvised shelter or sleeping on the ground is not insulating themselves properly. Either due to lack of training, experience, or even discussions about it around outdoors groups, I have seen this problem become more and more prevalent. This is especially dangerous during the cold nights or when snow is on the ground. You can lose massive amounts of heat through your body’s contact with the cold ground, thus increasing the risk of hypothermia.

There are several things that can be done to fix this problem. Many people advocate the use of cots, but the reality is that they can sometimes be no better than sleeping on the ground if it is really cold out. The cold air can circulate under the uninsulated cot and this increase your heat loss during the night. Sleeping pads do help, but all this increases weight that you carry with you. Considering what Mors Kochanski says, “The more you know the less you carry,” the best bet would be to know more.

This is where insulation beds come in. Natural materials such as boughs, leaves, and other vegetation work quite well as an insulator. By just piling up natural materials properly you can decrease your body’s heat loss and actually make yourself quite comfortable throughout the night. It also works quite well to spread down boughs and vegetation when sleeping on snow. The vegetation will insulate your tent or bedroll, cut down on the icing up of your ground cloth from melting snow, and will also keep you from sinking throughout the night.

Here is a quick video I found that explains the whole insulation bed concept.

In this video, the bed is actually raised up as well. This may or may not be necessary, but the insulation may be required to help maintain body temperatures throughout the night if you don’t have some other sort of sleeping pad or bedroll.